Dear Reader,
By now you know cholesterol-lowering drugs are bad for your health. Yet according to another new study, doctors still just aren’t getting it.
Even worse, many doctors continue to dismiss the warning signs when their patients complain of dangerous side effects. They’re just not listening.
Researchers at the University of San Diego recently surveyed 650 patients taking cholesterol-lowering drugs like Lipitor, Zocor, and Mevacor. The point of the study was to find out how their doctors responded when they reported having bad reactions.1
The results were disturbing, to say the least. Forty-seven percent of participants suffering from muscle or brain-related problems reported that their doctors brushed their complaints aside.
Fifty-one percent of patients with nerve pain said the same thing. Overall, thirty-two percent of patients with a variety of complaints reported that their doctors immediately ruled out the possibility that they could be related to statin drugs.
And, the San Diego researchers concluded that the pharmaceutical companies who make these drugs were getting the word out about their dangers (probably because of fear of legal repercussions). The doctors simply weren’t listening. And in the majority of cases, it was the patient, not the doctor, who initiated the discussion about possible side effects.
For my part, I’m going to continue doing what I’ve been doing for many years – warning anyone who will listen to avoid statin drugs. Not only do they fail to address the real cause of heart disease (which isn’t high cholesterol, by the way) – they hurt instead of helping and can actually be fatal.
The list of statin drugs’ side effects is long and frightening. Here are just a few:
• Inability to concentrate
• Confusion
• Amnesia
• Disorientation
• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue
• Nerve pain
• Muscle weakness
• Depression and other mood disorders
• Impotence
• Lowered sex drive
• Weakened immune system
• Liver damage
• Rhabdomyolysis (painful bursting of muscle cells)
• And death
With risks like these, you have to wonder why so many doctors remain in the dark. Statins remain blockbuster drugs – 12 million Americans are currently taking them.
One reason may be that the mainstream medical community continues to focus on cholesterol as the chief culprit behind heart disease. There’s no doubt statins lower LDL cholesterol, the “bad” kind.
The problem is, cholesterol isn’t the problem. It may surprise you to learn that 75 percent of heart attack victims have perfectly normal cholesterol levels.
The fact is lowering your LDL cholesterol doesn’t protect you from heart disease. You want to raise your HDL, the “good” kind. As long as your HDL’s high – around 85 – there’s no reason to worry about your LDL levels.
You can boost HDL levels naturally and safely. One clinically proven way is to get more lean meat in your diet (it doesn’t matter whether it’s white or red).2
But if you’re on statin drugs and decide you want to stay on them, make sure your doctor is responsive to your questions and listens to your reporting of potential side effects. Take the lead in conversations about possible side effects and dangers.
And if he or she is like the doctors in the study and just doesn’t listening to you, find a new doctor.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
1 Golomb et al, “Physician Response to Patient Reports of Drug Adverse Effects,” Drug Safety 2007, 30(8): 669-675.
2 Hunninghake et al, “Incorporation of lean red meat into a National Cholesterol Education Program Step I diet,” Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2000, 19(3):351-360.